Jason Statham Almost Died: ‘Expendables 3’ Stunt Almost Killed Actor, Swimming Skills Saved Him

So… Jason Statham almost died while filming Expendables 3! According to The Mirror UK, the actor’s co-star, Sylvester Stallone, recently spoke out about a stunt gone wrong… and he said that Statham’s swimming skills saved his life. Apparently Statham was driving in a truck that was headed straight for the water. He jumped out when he realized that the vehicle’s brakes had failed — and Stallone says that anyone else would have drowned in that situation… but Statham is a trained swimmer.

“He faced death. He was test-driving a three-ton truck and the brakes run out. It went down 60ft into the Black Sea and became impaled. Luckily we had taken the doors off before. If anyone else had been in that truck we would have been dead because we were all wearing heavy boots and gun belts. We would have drowned. But because Jason is an Olympic-quality diver he got out of it.”

Jason Statham almost died because the stunt truck he was testing out malfunctioned — probably something that was unforeseeable. As you likely know, the Transporter actor does a lot of his own stunts, so it is no surprise that he has gotten himself into a predicament or two. While a lot of the stunts-gone-wrong might not be life-threatening, it sounds like this one was pretty close. Thankfully, Jason knew just what to do and he saved himself.

According to The Independent, Statham wouldn’t dramatize about his stunt fails. When he was asked what the worst thing that ever happened to him while filming was, Statham said that he “snapped a shoelace.” Evidently he’s not interested in any added attention.

There are quite a few actors who do their own stunts. For instance, Jackie Chan is known for never using a stunt double. Naturally, things happen, and sometimes actors do get hurt. Stallone actually fell on set and needed to have a metal plate put in his back. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Harrison Ford was recently injured while filming Star Wars Episode VII. Ford broke his leg after a “freak accident” on set.

While you might think actors have easy jobs, sometimes they are in compromised situations and things happen. Injuries on set are not uncommon. Actors that do their own stunts are more at risk, and while safety is always a priority, accidents do happen. Thankfully Statham is okay.

Expendables 3 is due out in theaters on Aug. 15.

[Photo courtesy of The Independent]